Humana Medicare misleading elderly members about Heath Care Reform

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According to Dawn Teo, a blogger over at the Huffington Post, Humana Medicare has deliberately sent misleading mailers about President Obama's health care reform proposal.

Humana's Michael Graves designed headquarters

The mailers falsely report that the reform plan will cut "important services and benefits" from Medicare. Teo explains that Health and Human Services's (HHS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) wrote Humana asking them to stop sending such false and misleading information.

Humana's political advocacy actions are outrageous. Read Teo's article and inform her if you've received such mailers from your heath insurance provider.

Mackenzie Phillips poll: what do you think of her "sharing?"

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Mackenzie Phillips, the child star of the 70s hit "One Day at A Time", appeared on Oprah Wednesday and will again on Friday of this week to share the news that she had a 10 year sexual relationship with her dad, John Phillips, lead singer of "The Mamas and The Papas."

The media blitz or "wave" started by her Oprah appearance is timed with the release of her book called "High on Arrival" in bookstores today.

What do you think of Mackenzie Phillips' actions? Take my poll, below:

create audio polls & quizzes on pollsb.com

Mackenzie Phillips had sex with dad, John Phillips - talks to Oprah

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Mackenzie Phillips took "TMI" to a new level.

I saw the news and had to tune in, if only for 16 minutes, but to see Mackenzie Phillips just pour herself out to Oprah and say that she had sex and drugs (and well, rock and roll) with her father John Phillips was just, well, it made my skin crawl.

I didn't see the entire segment; Valerie Bertinelli made a surprise appearance on the show to share her concern for her friend. Real sad. Really is.

("Rape" is how it was described by one website but she had relations with him repeatedly until he, according to her statements on Oprah, wanted her to be the mother of the other kids.)

It seems like it's in this new "tell-all" pattern we're establishing where Megan Fox talked to Rolling Stone in a similar way:



And we have Michelle Wie blogging her talents and her bod:



But Mackenzie Phillips, who I watched religiously on "One Day at A Time" just took my breath away and made me wonder how much we should bear as public figures.

I mean, ok, Mac went through an abusive teenage phase to be sure, but to bring it out as she did?

Here's Celeb TV's video summary:



I go back and forth on this and admit to some confusion in the whole deal. See, part of me understands that she obviously from her tears on Oprah needed the release but yes it was timed to the release of her book, which has her account with her father in it.

She's certainly going to make money from bearing her soul and "sharing" but now anyone with kids who happened to hear this has some explaining to do I would think. Which brings me to this poll question: should MacKenzie Phillips have spilled the beans the way she did, so publicly?

How much is too much?

Here's the poll:

create audio polls & quizzes on pollsb.com

Oakland City Council gets ass chewed out by Oaklanders

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The Oakland City Council got its ass chewed out last night, and I'm not sure there's much left this morning.

This is an account best told with video, and I've got a lot of it coming today. The meeting, at least for the issue of rolling back parking enforcement times from the current 8 PM ending to the old 6 PM stop point, didn't itself end until 12:29 AM.

I've attended well over a 1,000 Oakland City Council meetings going back to 1987, but I can't remember one where several people were as red-faced angry as they were last night. Oh sure, we've had our "Hugh Bassett" moments, where the Oakland school teacher would blast Councilmember Larry Reid (District 7 East Oakland), but nothing like this. Only video does it justice.

Grand Lake Theater owner Allan Michaan is threatening to start a recall of the Oakland City Council after it failed to roll back the parking enforcement time. Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce head Carl Chan just plain lost it after the decision was made to revisit the matter in two weeks, and after Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan (At-Large) issued a controversial idea of rolling back the time to 7 PM from 8 PM.

I've known Carl since 1993. I've never seen him that angry.

Even Oakland gadfly journalist Sanjiv Handa gave a 17 minute speech blasting the Oakland City Council. In fact he did that countless times last night. The guy should just run for office, ya know?

More with videos in a few.

Colts top Dolphins - Peyton Manning ahead of Johnny Unitas

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There are times in life when one has to stop and admire the passage of history. This is one of those moments. The Indianapolis Colts' QB Peyton Manning surpassed the great Jonny Unitas in all time franchise wins last night. The Indianapolis Colts beat the Miami Dolphins in a hard-fought contest 27 to 23, and it could have swung the other way.

Peyton Manning 

The Miami Dolphins came out using a daring game plan, mixing three running back sets with a healthy dose of The Wildcat Formation to form a brew of ball control offense.

But with all of that, and having the clock longer than the Colts, the Dolphins still lost. Why?

Because when the Dolphins had the ball, they didn't make the most of their chances. Period. It doesn't matter how long a team has the ball - within reason - they have to "do" something with it. The Dolphins didn't. The Colts won.

Attacking The Wildcat Formation. 

This game provided no useful examples of how to attack the Dolpins' Wildcat formation. The Colts played a loose defense and basically stuck with it the entire game. That's not how a team should play the Wildcat Offense.

What an organization should do is blitz and for a simple reason. Many of the plays out of the Wildcat Formation are long developing, so a defense sending seven or eight people to rush the quarterback will disrupt the timing of the offense.

That's something the Colts did not do in game planning for the Dolphins Offense. But the Colts high powered offense made it such that the Colts didn't have to. What Indy did do was figure out where the Dolphins were running and pursue to the ball more rapidly than they did in the first half.

The Colts won the game going away, but didn't solve the Wildcat problem in the process.

Dominique Dicaprio - model shows why blogs top news sites

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Who's Dominique Dicaprio and why is she ahead of Megan Fox and Jessica Lange in search trends as of now?

That's a good question because as of this writing, Dominique Dicaprio (no relation to the actor) is the new "Miss Howard TV", and the number three hottest search in Google Trends, but when one clicks on her name, no news site source is listed on the left, but a bunch of blog site sources are listed on the right.

(UPDATE: Zimbio became the first news site to post the  Dominique Dicaprio information.)

If I do a back search on Dominique Dicaprio's trend history on Google Insights for Search, I get zip. Nada. Nothing. Yet, she's the one of the top Google trends. By contrast, Megan Fox and Jessica Lange have a long history.

I've noticed what may be a glitch in Google Insight for Search where listings from news sites and not blog sites dominate the historical searches because blog sites are not well represented on Google News - they have a separate category. If the system worked as it should, the current blog listings should have come up in the overall results for her name.

So in a way, Google itself is contributing to the blogs over news content problem. Unless one knows how to read between the search results, they'd miss a lot of traffic building content that's not out of bounds to post, if you know what I mean.

Think about it.

Let's face it, Jessica Lange's plastic surgery rumor's not all that big a deal either, but the mainstream press was all over it because it came from a big event, the Emmy Awards. If it came from Howard TV, who would know except for the blogs?

This common process is one reason why blogs tend to break news missed by mainstream media sites. Ok, Dominique Dicaprio being named "Miss Howard TV" is not important information in that it has nothing to do with America Foreign Policy. But it has everything to do with our economy.

Everything.

In an Internet age, content is king and the main reason why mainstream media news sites are commonly outdone by their blog competitors it that mainstream media news sites have a human filter that has little to do with the reality of what people are consuming.

Sticking one's finger in the wind of social change only gets that person's finger dirty. Learning to read traffic data and write for the Internet is the key. Also being a student of society helps, too.

As I tell anyone who asks, people want to read about people. Period. Without people the eyeball economy would not exist. But it does, its grown, and so now we have three camps: people who understand it, people who don't and complain about it, and people who don't know it exists.

The people who get it are the fewest in number of the three.

The folks in the middle offer an excuse that of course is designed to make them look good, like "That's not important to me" or "It's not in our demographic" - which is funny because I find more often than not that many people that one would think aren't looking at a something, are because, well again, they're people.

And even the people who make negative comments play into the game. They think that by making the insult they discourage coverage of the information, but it only adds to the buzz around it. And reading but not commenting helps because its traffic.

See, there's no escape from, well, who we are.

This is the reason why the Huffington Post smashes all news websites. It's the reason why the Gawker blog sites are so valuable. It's also the reason why Glam Media's worth millions and Perez Hilton's traffic numbers are unbelievable.

And why journalism school teachers invite TMZ.com's Harvey Levin to meet their students.

It's also the reason why some mainstream media news sites will fail, even as their editors talk about their highbrow standards and demographics.

News is everywhere; but websites have to use it to pays the bills. Otherwise, forget about surviving, even with a government bailout.

Stay tuned.

Jessica Lange at Emmys - plastic surgery?

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Is this Megan Fox's future?

One of my all time favorite actresses, Jessica Lange, who first made it big in the 1976 remake of King Kong, accepted the "Best Actress In A Miniseries or Movie" Emmy Award last night for her performance in HBO's Grey Garden, and caused a buzz just by smiling!

The Hollywood blogs and websites are humming with rumors of Lange's plastic surgery, which as of this writing she's never confirmed. But she looks fantastic, and if Jessica Lange did, great for her!

My only advice is for Lange to hit the weights. Few activities gives as much energy and turn back the body clock as a great daily weight-lifting routine using free weights over 30 pounds each (not the light ones).

Lange's arms could use the work as there's no appreciable muscle tone at all; she's already has the right frame, but she needs that cut look, like Angela Bassett or Dame Helen Mirren, who at 64 has a great body.

Their secret? Weight lifting.

Megan Fox in Rolling Stone: Sexy. Confused. Angry.

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Megan Fox is becoming a massively sexy quote machine. Th star of the new move Jennifer's Body was interviewed by the Rolling Stone's Erik Hedegaard, who seemed to be trying to get Fox to say something controversial. By my start to finish review, he succeeded. Take these comments...

“Men are scared of vaginas,” Fox rants, "A woman is most powerful when she is “completely in charge of her sexuality.”

(I agree with that last sentence.)

To her boyfriend Brian Austin Green: "I’ve had to say to Brian, ‘You have to go and stop talking to me, because I’m going to kill you. I’m going to stab you with something. Please leave,'"

Ok!

Fox also makes a remark that had me laughing, then railing. She states that when she's in a conversation with a man that's not going well or in the right direction, she takes steps to make the man feel small, which she feels one can do if the bloke's attracted to her.

The last time I checked the man generally feels large, not small, when he's attracted to a woman, starting with confidence. I suppose I could chalk this up to the musings of a 23-year-old because I wonder how much of this she will agree with when she's 53?

In all, I came away really knowing little more about Fox than I knew already. Yes, she says wild things. Obviously she looks great. But how does she prepare for a scene? What kind of research does she do? I read somewhere that Fox said she went to the 2008 Comic Con without a disguise just to see what all the fuss was about.

No one recognized her.

I'd like to know more about Megan Fox the person than Fox the live action cartoon character that's presented in Rolling Stone. A friend of mine observed:

"I read that article too. I liked her cover story for Maxim, October 2008, which had better pics. She's lost me now, celebrity is turning her nuts, my crush on her is over. Plus, she's way too young for me and I've had enough of anorexic starlet waif types.

The point of the RS article is that she hides behind the titilation and outrageousness, so you don't really know her, it's a defense mechanism against fame.

Fame crushes people sometimes (Michael Jackson, hello?), you can see the strain on her."

I don't view Fox from such a "dating prospect" personal perspective but I do agree something's a bit, er, different. This trend of 20-something women in entertainment describing themselves as messed up in some way should not go without study. If it's not Megan Fox explaining that she's capable of killing her boyfriend, then it's Tila Tequila writing that she's really messed up on her website, and look what she got herself into.

What's going on is anyone's best guess, but something's certainly wrong with this generation.

What do you think of Megan Fox? Take my poll below:

More surveys on pollsb.com

Raiders beat Chiefs but Raiders coaches at fault for Jamarcus Russell's passing stats

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The Oakland Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs 13 to 10 in a game that the Silver and Black made enough big plays to win. The one negative was the 7 completion for 24 attempt passing stat for Jamarcus Russell, the Raiders star quarterback.

Jamarcus Russell

I've already heard a bunch of comments about Russell, all pointing to his need to throw better. On KPIX Channel Five Dennis O'Donnell (who;s a good guy by the way) said that this is Russell's third year in the league, but really his second because of his 2007 holdout.

No one has pointed a finger at Jamarcus Russell's Oakland Raiders coaches; I will.

The Raiders passing offense is designed by two people: Ted Tollner as "Passing Game Coordinator", and Paul Hackett as "Quarterback Coach". Given that Hackett comes from the Bill Walsh tree of coaches, having served as his offensive assistant with the 49ers, the mistakes that are reflected in Russell's actions are correctable, but also questionable. They're not errors a Bill Walsh Offense team makes.

Let's start with the first obvious problem: the deep pass.

If one looks at any video of a Bill Walsh coached offensive team the one habit that's obvious is the use of "landmarks" on the field. In this case the hashmarks. By contrast, the Raiders don't use them.

In today's game in the third quarter, receiver Louis Murphy was open on a post route that Russell overthrew. Wildly. If Walsh were the coach, Louis Murphy would have ran his pattern to the near side hashmark, and Russell would have thrown to that hashmark yards downfield where Morton was to be.

Look at this video of the throws from Joe Montana to Jerry Rice when both were with the 49ers. I want you to pay attention to where Rice is running with respect to the hasmarks and where Montana throws the ball with respect to the hashmarks. Notice that Rice is always running to the near side hashmarks, and only once crossing them to the far side hashmarks on a post pattern, and that was in Super Bowl 24. This is repeated again and again, but the point is the hashmarks are used as an landmark. 



I want, not hope, but want the Raiders offensive coaches to watch that video over and over again, along with this next one. It features coach Walsh explaining the basic footwork involved in the basic three-step, five-step, and seven step passes. This is footwork and doesn't change with respect to formation. This is how the ball is delivered.



The poor passing stat from the Chiefs game is not Jamarcus Russell's fault. I contend that he's not well-coached in the art of throwing the ball on time, to a point, to achieve a completion. Part of this is footwork, the other part is play design as many of the plays don't allow a quick pass to the running backs.

The Raiders coaches are at fault for creating a passing system that's not kind to its quarterback and not properly teaching Russell how to throw the football.

Raiders beat Chiefs but Raiders coaches at fault for Jamarcus Russell's passing stats

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The Oakland Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs 13 to 10 in a game that the Silver and Black made enough big plays to win. The one negative was the 7 completion for 24 attempt passing stat for Jamarcus Russell, the Raiders star quarterback.

Jamarcus Russell

I've already heard a bunch of comments about Russell, all pointing to his need to throw better. On KPIX Channel Five Dennis O'Donnell (who;s a good guy by the way) said that this is Russell's third year in the league, but really his second because of his 2007 holdout.

No one has pointed a finger at Jamarcus Russell's Oakland Raiders coaches; I will.

The Raiders passing offense is designed by two people: Ted Tollner as "Passing Game Coordinator", and Paul Hackett as "Quarterback Coach". Given that Hackett comes from the Bill Walsh tree of coaches, having served as his offensive assistant with the 49ers, the mistakes that are reflected in Russell's actions are correctable, but also questionable. They're not errors a Bill Walsh Offense team makes.

Let's start with the first obvious problem: the deep pass.

If one looks at any video of a Bill Walsh coached offensive team the one habit that's obvious is the use of "landmarks" on the field. In this case the hashmarks. By contrast, the Raiders don't use them.

In today's game in the third quarter, receiver Louis Murphy was open on a post route that Russell overthrew. Wildly. If Walsh were the coach, Murphy would have ran his pattern to the near side hashmark, and Russell would have thrown to that hashmark yards downfield where Murphy was to be.

Look at this video of the throws from Joe Montana to Jerry Rice when both were with the 49ers. I want you to pay attention to where Rice is running with respect to the hasmarks and where Montana throws the ball with respect to the hashmarks. Notice that Rice is always running to the near side hashmarks, and only once crossing them to the far side hashmarks on a post pattern, and that was in Super Bowl 24. This is repeated again and again, but the point is the hashmarks are used as an landmark. 



I want, not hope, but want the Raiders offensive coaches to watch that video over and over again, along with this next one. It features coach Walsh explaining the basic footwork involved in the basic three-step, five-step, and seven step passes. This is footwork and doesn't change with respect to formation. This is how the ball is delivered.



The poor passing stat from the Chiefs game is not Jamarcus Russell's fault. I contend that he's not well-coached in the art of throwing the ball on time, to a point, to achieve a completion. Part of this is footwork, the other part is play design as many of the plays don't allow a quick pass to the running backs.

The Raiders coaches are at fault for creating a passing system that's not kind to its quarterback and not properly teaching Russell how to throw the football.

Michael Crabtree | Crabtree called "idiot" by ex-Patriot Rodney Harrison

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(Note: Michael Crabtree says that Deon Sanders is one of his mentors in my video above from this year's NFL Draft in New York. )

The latest opinion to come in regarding former Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree's decision to delay signing as the 10th pick in the NFL Draft with the San Francisco 49ers has the impact of a Rodney Harrison hit.

Crabtree should watch out for old #37

That should be no surprise as the comment comes from Rodney Harrison himself. It was reported just an hour ago before this blog that Harrison delivered the verbal hit while being interviewed on ESPN Radio in Philadelphia according to USA Today.

Harrison said:

"He's the biggest idiot I've ever see in the National Football League. I would have to put Ryan Leaf (Harrison's former teammate) and him as the two biggest idiots that ever played in the NFL... How coud you turn down close to $20 million guaranteed?"

Then Harrison basically teed-off on Crabtree on the former New England Patriot's Twitter page:

# I saw so many guys like a Ronnie Lott and such who never made this type of money and you're holding out for more then $20mil guaranteed?about 4 hours ago from web

# @Zach_Poole Then he should beat up his agent, because if he's not promising you that he will get you that #20mil next year, you're a fool.about 4 hours ago from web in reply to Zach_Poole

# If you want more money, play the rookie contract, and then get more money... prove you deserve it. You haven't done anything in the NFL yet.about 4 hours ago from web

# i don't know where gets his advices from but how can you turn down close to $20 million guaranteed?and you get it before even playing in NFLabout 4 hours ago from web

When I talked to Crabtree at the NFL Draft he told me that Deon Sanders was one of the people who mentors him. I wonder what PrimeTime's telling him to do now?

Stay tuned.

FRO's Results Rankings 2009 NFL Season Week 1 By Jon Wagner, Sr. Writer At-Large Football Reporters Online

FRO's Results Rankings
2009 NFL Season
Week 1
By Jon Wagner, Sr. Writer At-Large

While there are many power rankings out there based as much on hype, expectations, and sometimes unrealized projections, we here at FRO, prefer to rank NFL teams on what's actually happened, taking into account only how teams have performed on the field and who they’ve played. At FRO, you won’t find yet another power ranking that means little. Instead, here are FRO's Week 1 Results Rankings. Check back each week for new rankings!

#1 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Not much offensively, but the Eagles' defense ended their game in Carolina by halftime.

#2 NEW YORK JETS
Mark Sanchez had a solid debut, and Rex Ryan's relentless defense suffocated the Texans in Houston for four quarters.

#3 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
The Rams provided a weak test, but when you win by 28 and you post a shutout in Week 1, you get a high ranking.

#4 PITTSBURGH STEELERS
The running game and red zone offense struggled, but the defense and Big Ben were clutch against a good Titans team.

#5 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Too many points allowed to a team like Detroit, especially at home, but Brees and the Saints' offense were stellar.

#6 MINNESOTA VIKINGS
A slow start in Cleveland, but Adrian Peterson and the Vikes' defense both eventually kicked it into high gear.

#7 ATLANTA FALCONS
The Falcons' defense came to play, forcing Miami into several costly miscues.

#8 DALLAS COWBOYS
Similar to the Vikings' win in Cleveland, a sluggish first half was followed up a much better second half in Tampa.

#9 NEW YORK GIANTS
It should have been easier after leading the Skins 17-0, but the Giants were good enough on both sides of the ball.

#10 BALTIMORE RAVENS
The Ravens let the Chiefs, especially without Cassel, hang around for too long… until Joe Flacco finished a big day.

#11 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
The 49ers served early notice that they intend to compete for the AFC West crown by opening with a win in the desert.

#12 GREEN BAY PACKERS
Aaron Rodgers was held in check until he threw a 50-yd game-winner, and the Pack harassed Jay Cutler into 4 picks and 2 sacks.

#13 TENNESSEE TITANS
A failed, but valiant effort by the Titans in a tough place like Steeltown has them ranked higher than others who won.

#14 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Only a Bills' fumble and late heroics by Tom Brady and Ben Watson kept the Pats from being ranked shockingly low.

#15 BUFFALO BILLS
The Bills battled the Pats well for about 55 minutes, before giving away a big AFC East tilt that they should have won.

#16 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
The Chargers were unimpressive in victory, but they did show good resolve late, to avoid an upset in Oakland.

#17 INDIANPOLIS COLTS
As they often have to against the Jags, the Colts had to tough out a win, aided by a stopped two-pt. conversion.

#18 DENVER BRONCOS
Great defense slowed Cincinnati's passing game, but the Broncs still needed a heads-up miracle by Stokley to win.

#19 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
As they often do, a nice job giving the Colts fits, but the offensively challenged Jags could lose a lot of those.

#20 OAKLAND RAIDERS
The Raiders know how the Bills feel this week after nearly getting the upset… until Darrin Sproles scored with :18 left.

#21 CHICAGO BEARS
Staying with the theme, the Bears had a big divisional game won… until Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings spoiled it.

#22 ARIZONA CARDINALS
Another perfect AFC West record was not in the cards. A home loss to Frisco a bad way to open defense of an NFC title.

#23 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Great job to hang in against a tough Baltimore team without Matt Cassel, but still, a two-touchdown loss in the end.

#24 WASHINGTON REDSKINS
The Redskins made it a game late, but a 17-point hole and 4 turnovers too much to overcome at The Meadowlands.

#25 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
In it for a half, the Bucs exposed the Cowboys’ D for 450 yds, but they were torched for 462 yds as Dallas pulled away.

#26 DETROIT LIONS
The Lions’ offense (27 pts) kept them alive in New Orleans for 3 quarters, but allowing 45 points and 515 yards? Ouch.

#27 CINCINNATI BENGALS
Though Cincinnati took a late and lost on a fluke play, Palmer and Ochocinco HAVE to score more than just 7 points.

#28 CLEVELAND BROWNS
Allowing 225 rushing yards (180 of them to the NFL’s best back) and just 268 yards of total offense spelled doom.

#29 MIAMI DOLPHINS
Too many mistakes with the football meant a lot of trouble early and often for the Fish in Atlanta.

#30 HOUSTON TEXANS
The Texans failed to make stops on key plays, and both O and D lines were physically dominated by the Jets all game.

#31 CAROLINA PANTHERS
Against the Eagles, Jake Delhome opened 2009 as mistake-prone as he ended 2008, in that playoff loss to Arizona.

#32 ST.LOUS RAMS
The Rams were outgained by 199 yards, lost by the largest margin, and were the only team that failed to score.